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So many people want to quit their high profile jobs and turn to social work! If you are one of them, you should know that setting up a not-for-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) is simple and not so difficult task. One can even do it on his or her own or take professional help from a Lawyer, chartered accountant or anyone familiar with the steps involved.

NGOs are organizations that usually work towards the promotion of certain causes or the welfare of a target population. Since they function in the non-profit realm, their objectives and modus operandi are often a bit different compared to for-profit organizations. In order to achieve their objectives, NGOs need to follow a realsitic approach right from the stage of conceptualization. Besides, there are rules and regulations laid down by the Government of India and the provincial state governments. Here is a brief step-by-step guide for starting your own NGO in India.

To start a NGO, you need a great willingness to serve on some point of view.

Steps

1

Lay down the issues that your NGO wants to address, and identify the mission and vision.

2

Before registering the NGO, you need to have a promoters' body in place, that will be the first governing body on registration, and thereby responsible for all activities and decisions of the NGO, till the new body is constituted as per the laid down rules, as and if applicable. The governing body will be involved in all matters of strategic relevance, including strategic planning, financial management, human resources and networking.

3

Every NGO in India is legally required to document a trust deed/ Memorandum of Association /Rules & Regulations that contain the name and address of the NGO, mission and objectives, details of governanace of the NGO.

4

In India, you may register an NGO under any of the following Acts:

As a Public Charitable Trust., a NGO can be registered in certain provinces in India. There is no national level Public Charitable Trust Act. It may be note that Indian Trusts Act 1882 is mean for Private Trusts, which is legally treated like a for-profit entity.

Societies Registration Act of 1860: A society can be formed by a group of seven or more people. Its formation is simple (but may take a little longer time to complete the registration process than that of a trust) and less expensive than that of a trust, but it also affords more flexibility in terms of regulations.

Companies Act of 2013: An association that is formed for the promotion of art, science, commerce, religion or charity can be registered as a not-for-profit company but its members cannot be paid a dividend. All income and profits, if any, should be utilized for furthering the objectives of the company.

All the above three types of organization are eligible to register under section 12A of the Income Tax Act of 1961 and on registration enjoy exemption of tax liability for its income.

6

Besides meeting the above mandatory requirements, you need to build a wide professional network with other NGOs, government agencies, media and the corporate sector. Like most other organizations, an NGO thrives primarily on the strength of partnerships.

You need to gather information on what your NGO has done so far: your mission, vision and the actions you have taken so far. Collect some good photographs. Note down achievements, and get it designed and printed through a vendor.

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Co-authors: 27

Updated:

Views: 683,288

Dhruv Kumar

Sep 5, 2017

"In fact I really want to open a new NGO for framers and soldiers to help them. I think that is why only politicians and celebrities always take a step to help them. The general public could take a chance to serve them who are serving us. "..." more

LR

Lavanya Rajput

Dec 13, 2018

"I got ideas and a goal to achieve my desire of helping people, how to join new NGOs and make contact with people, and how to open and manage my upcoming NGO. Thank you so much for good information given by all authors."..." more

AM

Arvind M.

Dec 12, 2018

"It gave me, in a nutshell, an understanding of how to start an NGO in India! Thank you."

GR

G. Roy

Sep 26, 2018

"I'm interested in forming an NGO, and the steps shown on the site helped me with the next step. "

IN

Irshad Nisar

May 8, 2017

"The sole purpose of my NGO is to help the students of the valley Kashmir to develop and study in a disturbance-free environment. As the valley is often witnessing disturbances round the clock, I tried my best to help the students here."..." more

DS

D. S.

Sep 5, 2017

"In fact I really want to open a new NGO for farmers and soldiers. I think that's why only politicians and celebrities take steps for helping them, why not let the general public take a chance to serve them who are serving us."..." more

MV

Manjula Venkatanarayan

Jul 23, 2018

"It is very informative to me because I want to start an NGO to help old age people, orphans, and women in distress, but I don't have enough money to start. This can guide me. "..." more

A

Anonymous

Oct 22, 2017

"Very useful site to know quick detail about NGO information. Before seeing this site, we spent lots of time on other websites, but never got information."..." more

AS

Anurag Sharma

Jul 8, 2016

"The concept of NGO and its formation has been explained in simple words and pictures making it easy for a layman to understand it. Thanks a lot."..." more

PS

Partha Sarathy

Mar 20, 2016

"Simply fine. It gave me clarification on minimum trust members and more information on the government websites for registering an NGO."..." more

Goutam Kumar

Aug 14, 2017

"I have taken an interest to set up an NGO. Regarding this purpose, this site helped me with some important points which will help me. "..." more

SR

Sundaram Ramakrishnan

Jun 26, 2017

"It does show the preliminary steps to start on our own. We realize that a lot of research has to be done to start successfully."..." more

A

Arasi

Jun 27, 2016

"As a student, the basic steps to start an NGO and its functions are easily understandable. Utilization of pictures are smart."..." more

BV

Bharath Viraj

May 29, 2017

"It's helpful for me! I'm just thinking to start an Ngo regarding charity! It is very clear in explaining the steps involved!"..." more

MC

Manita Chauhan

Jan 23, 2018

"Yes, it helped, as I am new to this. Wanted to gather information about the same. I hope it will help me to move on."..." more

AP

Arun Parida

Jul 12, 2016

"I came to know about the members needed in different registration, such as trust and society and national level."

MS

Mallika Sarkar

Jun 26, 2016

"It helped me knowing that teachers may open it and their minimum number is 2, and teachers can get a salary."